Leezyjet (and a few others I think)
I couldn't agree more with your comments regarding the structure of VS LHR and the training provided by them.
I spent 6 months working as a Traffic Officer there a couple of years ago, and I found it incredible that as a Dispatcher I was being dictated to by a Passenger Services Supervisor who (through no fault of their own) had absolutely no concept of the job I was carrying out. (There aren't a great deal of PHU staff who are aware of the finer points of Weight and Balance for a 744/343 etc).
I regularly challenged and questioned the fact that we were under PHU and not Ops control, only to be seen by some as the "new boy trouble-causer"(not the case at all)!
As you can probably appreciate, this is the main reason for the shortness of my stay at VS LHR.
I am not at all surprised to learn that some other familiar faces have since left, presumably for reasons much the same as mine.
I felt that with the wealth of knowledge and experience in the Department there were the makings of an impressive operation, but unfortunately one which was never given the chance to prove itself.
As regards the training, the bulk of staff from outside the airline have already a good grounding in W+B,Dispatch etc, but the sooner the VS Training Dept stops being an extension of the GHI/Aviance old-boy-jobs-for-the-boys network then the sooner it can become a credible part of an otherwise very credible airline
Cat amongst the pigeons time,
Regards,
Phoenix
OTV,
Not heard anything definite but I would be as interested as you to find out, especially in light of the new Handling Agent at LGW.
Watch this space...
PHX